Good Enough
by samanddianefan10
Summary: Frank reflects on what's gone wrong with his life while waiting on Margaret.


Today was Margaret's wedding day and Frank Burns was excited. It was going to be the day she left ol' Donald for him. He'd left a note in her tent asking her to meet her out in the fields where they used to take their picnics and he would pick her flowers and then he would have the answer to his question. He wasn't going to leave his wife for her, well, maybe not. All he knew was that he couldn't make it through the rest of the war without his Margaret by his side. He'd blown it, he knew that, but all he needed was one last chance. One chance to make things right for the two of them. After all, she still loved him, didn't she? It was a quarter till one, and the wedding was supposed to start at one, so Frank knew it was just a matter of minutes until his love came back.

Frank didn't know why he was the way he was. He knew he wasn't the most popular person in camp, not the way that that sneaky Hawkeye Pierce or that clever B.J. Hunnicutt were. He never saw what was so special about those two. So they made people laugh, so what? Frank's father always taught him to never trust a person who couldn't look you straight in the eye without laughing. It meant they were up to something, and in these two's cases, his father was absolutely correct. They were always trying to pull a fast one on someone, usually him, and chaos was the result. Not what you needed in the Army and not what you needed durning war. Order, control, and leadership were what this place needed, and it was hard pressed to find much of it here. If only he hadn't been passed over for promotion after Henry Blake died, things might be a little different around here.

Frank didn't let on, not to Margaret or not to anyone but that devestated him when they gave control of the camp to Colonal Potter instead of himself. Why not him? He was regulation, he could give them order, he could get this place in line if only he'd had the chance. But just like was the story of his life, he was passed over for someone else, someone braver, someone stronger, someone with more experience. In his life it was always someone else.

Especially with the girls. Every time he'd get the nerve to ask one out they'd make up some phoney excuse and hang out with the guy they really like. There was Shirley Maroni. Boy she was the cutest thing in a skirt he'd ever seen. And she was so kind to him. She would walk with him home from school, he would really open up about how things were at home, he trusted always teased him about being one of her younger brothers but he didn't care. Frank was going to ask her out if that was the last thing he did. Finally he got the nerve to ask her out on for this Friday night when she apologized and said she had to stay home and wash her hair. He sighed, but there was always another chance. He knew he could get another chance to win her over. Well Friday night came and he decided to go to the movies and who did he see there? Shirley Maroni and some other guy. He couldn't believe it. Lied to… the thought never crossed his mind that she didn't want to hurt his feelings. The message he got were women, like other people, were not to be trusted.

And then there was Margaret. She was nothing like his wife. Fiery and intellegent (he normally hated that in a woman) and headstrong she always got what she wanted. Frank couldn't even concieve of why she'd picked him if he were honest with himself. But he usually wasn't, so it didn't even occur to him that she might leave him someday. And that day had happened without any warning. She'd found another man who was now expecting to be Margaret's husband.

But that wasn't going to happen. Frank checked his watch-it was one-thrirty. The wedding must already be half over by now. She wasn't coming. There wasn't much left for him to do. _Might as well stay out here for a while,_ he thought. _No sense in going back to a celebration that I won't feel much like celebrating_. He lay down in the green grass, realizing he could only hide out for so long. As long as he didn't have to face the others, he could keep on fooling himself. As long as he still sat out here away from everyone, Maragret was still his, and for now, that was good enough for him.

The end


End file.
